RED TELEPHONE PRESENTS - STUCK IN THE PAST 2000 / PART TWO / RENTOS

In the winter of 2000/2001, I was tired of the non-stop rain that is an all-too-normal part of life in Vancouver, and had just split up with my girlfriend of a few years, so I decided to go for a change of scenery and take up a friend in San Diego on his offer to crash at his place as long as I wanted.

One 36 hour Greyhound trip and a few funny stories later I found myself at the bus station in downtown San Diego, and by that evening I would be relaxing on the beach outside my new temporary home in south Mission Beach. I was living on very little money, but I was in sunny California and couldn't have been happier.

Not long after I arrived, my team manager at Globe shoes in LA hit me up to see if I'd be down to help film Renton Millar for his part in the upcoming video, "Opinion". More than happy to help, I started splitting my time between Mission Beach and Mission Valley, and Renton got to work laying down one of the most technically advanced vert parts of the era. I'll be completely honest and say I was not expecting such a wide array of technical tricks when I took on the role of filming a "vert part" - but Renton was definitely on a "kicky" kick, and every day he was doing some new crazy trick he hadn't done before. It was amazing to watch.

He also brought his friend and legendary OG Australian vert skater (and secret street killer), Dom Kekich along for the ride, who seemed happy to chill quietly until nonchalantly spinning flawless McTwists every time when there was a break in the action. I can still hear the announcer in the old Powell video when a young Dom is spinning and spinning and spinning at a local contest in the 1980's - "Ohhhhh my god, he's going OFF!". Smooth operator, that Dom.

Renton always made it out to the annual Slam City Jam contest in Vancouver, so after the winter of filming in San Diego, we met up back on my home turf and he had a blast ripping the newly constructed Hastings bowl when he wasn't inside laying out his runs.

Part two of Stuck In The Past 2000 is a re-edit of Renton's footage that went towards the Opinion video, and the extras that I used for my own full length, "Video", in 2002. It's been years since Renton has made it to this side of the pond, but maybe I'll make the trip to OZ one day so we can relive some of the old times once again! Bacci bongs, mate!

                                                                                      - Adam Cassidy

Part Three coming mid - April, stay tuned...

BUDOS BAND V

A little over a decade ago, a record shop owner who knew what sort of stuff I was into suggested the Budos Band to me, and I nonchalantly said "Cool - I'll check them out" while I continued to thumb through the vinyl. Not long after that, a different record shop owner who had been to the night I was DJing at the Waldorf in Vancouver also mentioned he thought I would be into the band - but this time, he put the record on. My first impression was that this music sounded right up the RZA's alley - you could grab a dope sample from any part of the song we were listening to. I bought the record on the spot (Budos Band II), went home, threw it on, and realized I had just found my new favorite band.

It wasn't long before new skate videos/edits started featuring Budos Band and the various other Daptone/Dunham/Truth and Soul groups, heavily. That music just works so well with skateboarding. I even made a remix of Ghostface Killah's "The Champ" using a few different Budos samples. I can't wait to add this new Budos Band album to the library of awesome afrobeat, funk, soul and heavy psych rock vinyl I've amassed since their discovery.

Going to see them live for the first time this April in Seattle - see you there?

                                                                                             - Adam Cassidy